The Round of 16 in the Champions League got off to a thrilling start a few weeks ago and the return legs of half of the games will be played out this Wednesday and Thursday morning (AEDT). We break down some of our best bets for the week below.
Champions League Round of 16 Betting Tips
Borussia Dortmund vs Sevilla
Wednesday 7am (AEDT)
German side Borussia Dortmund took a 3-2 lead in the first leg on the road against Sevilla and they will be back at home looking to wrap up the fixture and move into the quarter finals on Wednesday morning. Young gun Erling Haaland scored two goals in the clash in Spain and will be the player to watch for Dortmund again on Wednesday.
One thing in Sevilla’s favour heading into the clash will be their relatively clean bill of health compared to that of the German side. Only two players will be missing from their squad, while Dortmund will be without Witsel, Schmelzer, Sancho, Reyna, Guerreiro and Akanji.
Dortmund start as slight favourites at home but they will likely set up pretty defensively knowing that just a draw will see them through to the next round comfortably. Sevilla will be playing a lot more aggressive and should be able to control the majority of possession, whether they can convert that to goals is a different story. I think this one ends in a 0-0 or low scoring draw.
Liverpool vs RB Leipzig
Thursday 7am (AEDT)
Liverpool claimed a 2-0 win in their away leg of the fixture against RB Leipzig, meaning they won’t need to do a lot to advance through to the next round. They will start as slight $2.30 favourites, which is a little higher than we thought it would be considering their dominance in the first game.
Liverpool also won’t want to take any chances in this game. Their recent form slump in the Premier League has all bit seen them eliminated from the title race so all of their eggs will be in the Champions League basket moving forward as they attempt to win their second trophy in three years.
Really like the value of Liverpool at home here. There’s no doubt that they have been in a bit of a form slump in the EPL, losing three of their last four games, however, they have been basically untouchable in the Champions League and looked a far better side than the German side in their first game. Back them to win here.
PSG vs Barcelona
Thursday 7am (AEDT)
Paris Saint Germain caused a massive shock in their first leg on the road in Barcelona, winning 4-1 and leaving themselves an incredibly comfortable path through to the quarter-finals. Many will be reminded of the 4-0 lead they took into the second leg of their Champions League matchup with Barcelona back in 2017, only to be defeated 6-1 in the second game and get eliminated from the tournament.
There is no way that PSG will let that happen again at home. Barcelona will likely be the more aggressive team here but allowing four goals at home is almost an insurmountable lead. They will also be without a bunch of key players in the likes of Coutinho, Fati, Pique and Roberto.
If history is anything to go by, this should be a high scoring affair. If it gets late in the game and Barcelona are still behind, they will go balls to the wall like they did in 2017 and goals should be flowing in one direction or another. Five of the seven goals were scored in the second half that night, back another goal-fest here.
